1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless transmission of video data, and particularly to transmission of high definition video data over wireless channels.
2. Description of the Related Technology
With the proliferation of high quality video, an increasing number of electronic devices, such as consumer electronic devices, utilize high definition (HD) video which can require multiple gigabit per second (Gbps) in bandwidth for transmission. As such, when transmitting such HD video between devices, conventional transmission approaches compress the HD video to a fraction of its size to lower the required transmission bandwidth. The compressed video is then decompressed for consumption. However, with each compression and subsequent decompression of the video data, some data can be lost and the picture quality can be reduced.
The High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) specification allows transfer of uncompressed HD signals between devices via a cable. While consumer electronics makers are beginning to offer HDMI-compatible equipment, there is not yet a suitable wireless (e.g., radio frequency) technology that is capable of transmitting uncompressed HD video signals. Wireless local area network (WLAN) and similar technologies can suffer interference issues when several devices which do not have the bandwidth to carry the uncompressed HD signals are connected.
Transmission of uncompressed video has several advantages over compressed video. Transmission of uncompressed video does not have latency involved in compressing and decompressing video. In addition, transmission of uncompressed video provides greater resilience to channel errors because uncompressed video has higher spatial redundancy. However, transmission of uncompressed video over a wireless channel is challenging because uncompressed video requires transmission of a larger amount of data than compressed video.